stunts
A Very Different ‘Gang Of Four’. No, Make That ‘Gang Of Five’.
The term ‘Gang of Four’ comes from the name that was given to a political faction made up by four officials of the Chinese Communist Party. They were prominent during a period referred to as the Cultural Revolution for 10 years (1966-1976), which must have felt more like a century for many Chinese citizens.
Very shortly after the death of Chairman Mao, the group was charged with a number of crimes such as treason. The members consisted of Jiang Qing, Mao’s last wife as the leading figure of the group, and her close associates Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan and Wang Hongwen.
The gang that I would like to draw your attention to is very different.
The group of women I would like to feature today are all very talented movie actresses who have thrilled audiences all over the world in numerous movies that have already become classics in their own right.
The one I became aware of first was back in the 70s, when she played the part of Bruce Lee’s sister in Enter The Dragon.
Her fans simply call her Lady Whirlwind or Lady Kung Fu. You probably know her as Angela Mao.
Trained in hapkido, kung fu, tae kwon do, and other martial art styles, she was definitley well prepared for her movie roles.
I can hardly believe she was paid only $100 for her short role in Enter The Dragon.
Some of the ladies featured in this very special blog post are now getting over US$ 10 mio. per movie!
Anyway, do you remember this one?
Yeah and then there is Maggie Cheung with her very own special accent which resulted from moving at age 8 from Hong Kong to Britain, where she was the only Asian at a school in Kent, England.
She then moved back to Hong Kong again at age 17 for a career as a model.
Maggie Cheung has acted in 70 Hong Kong movies. Five of them were Jackie Chan movies in which she also matched him in the stunts and injuries.
Picture book face and tough as nails. Check her out in this rather creative Red Leaves clip of Hero fighting against …….
Is that some serious foliage or what?
Even without being a martial artist per se, one simply cannot overlook Gong Li, often referred to as the Marlene Dietrich of Chinese cinema.
Arguably, Gong Li is the first Chinese actor to draw attention in the West without being a trained martial artist.
Remember the intro describing the Cultural Revolution?
Well, get this: Gong Li was born to a pair of economic professors who during the Cultural Revolution were forced to work in factories. They had to send all their children away, with the exception of Li, to work in the countryside. Heartbreaking to say the least.
At age 22, while studying at the prestigious Central Drama Academy in Beijing, Gong Li met the director Zhang Yimou. This event would change her career forever.
And even though speaking English is a challenge for her, Gong Li has been able to land numerous international movie roles such as Hannibal Rising: Behind The Mask, Miami Vice (starring Colin Farrell) and even Shanghai (starring John Cusack and Chow Yun-Fat).
I found a clip of an interview with her also talking about Curse Of The Golden Flower (again starring Chow Yun-Fat and directed by Zhang Yimou). Enjoy!
But wait, there’s more!
How about a former Miss Malaysia who also starred with Pierce Brosnan in ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’. She does her own fight scenes.
She has done stunts that make me cringe such as with Jackie Chan in Police Story III: Supercop, where she rode a motorbike onto a speeding train and jumped from helicopter into a moving convertible.
You probably know by now that I am talking about Michelle Yeoh.
She has dislocated her shoulder, cracked some ribs, and ruptured arteries in her leg.
While leaping from an 18-foot overpass in Stuntwoman she missed the safety net and dislocated her neck. It was scary and reportedly having heard a snap in her back, she feared to be paralyzed for life. Fortunately, she recovered after spending several months in a full body cast.
And yes, she also starred in the classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and here is one of the best fight scenes with Michelle Yeoh and ….
And here we come to the fifth member of our Gang of Five:
She just turned 32 in February of this year and she has had the fortune of being part of a number of successful movie projects such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as well as Rush Hour 2, Memoirs Of A Geisha, Hero and House Of Flying Daggers.
The daughter of a Beijing accountant/economist and kindergarten teacher, Ziyi Zhang attended the Beijing Dance Academy and the Central Academy Of Drama which has certainly given her the foundation and work ethic in attaining her acting career accomplishments thus far.
I think we’re gonna see and hear a lot more good things about Ziyi Zhang.
If you have watched all the video clips of this post, you were able to see her in two of them already. One with Maggie Cheung and the other with Michelle Yeoh.
“I think we could have had something special ….”
What?
Just watch the following Rush Hour 2 clip and have some fun!
The Rundown Is On
I don’t know about you, but the older I get the faster time seems to be flying.
Weird, isn’t it?
When you’re a kid, your perception of time is sooooo different.
What I have been learning and applying (not always with the greatest degree of success, I must admit) is to plan for the future, but yet be in the moment.
And with all the challenges that this crazy thing called life presents us, strive to simply seize the day and smell the roses more often.
But I digress and I am enjoying every moment of it. That’s one of the good things about aging, I guess.
Anyway, looking back at 2010, I gotta say this was another pretty good year for me, even though it had its challenges that I was able to master with the help of others. Heck, I never said I was an island.
Yet I am fully aware that unfortunately way too many people in the world continue to go through some tough times and situations.
That got me thinking again when just recently I stumbled across the Chinese word ”weiji” which translates into ”crisis” and consists of two symbols below:
And what I have been led to believe is that it is made up of both “danger” and “opportunity”.
I am not here to offer any life-coaching advice. I am just thinking aloud, because blogging offers that kind of outlet.
Al Gore, thank you for inventing the Internet!
Boy, I am all over the board in this post. A beautiful mind!
But wait, there’s more.
Don’t ask my why, but somehow I remembered this movie fight scene in the Brazilian jungle which I think just doesn’t get enough credit.
The movie’s title is “The Rundown” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Seann William Scott and Christopher Walken.
To enlighten those of you not familiar with the meaning of “rundown”:
It can mean a point-by-point summary or in baseball terms, it is a play in which a runner is trapped between bases and is pursued by fielders attempting to make the tag.
The movie is about an aspiring chef who is hired to bring home a mobster’s son from the Amazon but becomes involved in the fight against an oppressive town operator and the search for a legendary treasure.
Some of the stunts and fight scenes are pretty good, but there is this one fight scene in which “The Rock” has to fight all these guys including Ernie Reyes Jr. (yep, that’s him!) that I really enjoy.
The Rundown Is On!
Wishing You The Very Best New Year Ever.
Talk to you next year again,
Yours truly,
Find Out Who Makes Matt Damon Look Tough In “Green Zone”
I have admired Matt Damon’s acting skills ever since I saw him in “Good Will Hunting” which he co-write and co-starred with BFF Ben Affleck in 1997.
You might have read my recent post on Denzel Washington, who stars in “The Book of Eli” and got some serious fight training from Dan Inosanto and stunt coordinator-extraordinaire, Jeff Imada.
Jeff Imada is also the guy responsible for hypnotizing movie audiences worldwide into believing that Matt Damon actually is Jason Bourne in the Bourne Trilogy.
I just stumbled across the trailer of a very soon to be released movie, starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear, called “Green Zone“.
The movie was inspired by the book “Imperial Life in The Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone” written by Rajiv Chandrasekran, who looked at civilian leadership during the U.S. American reconstruction in Iraq.
The book concentrates on the actions of the Coalition Provisional Authority inside the Green Zone in Baghdad. Emphasis is put on how the occupation was handled from the time from the end of the invasion till the official transfer of power to the Iraqis and the increasing insurgency in Iraq.
Of course, as with just about every book, Hollywood has to do what it does best, namely to make it appealing on the Big Screen.
And that’s where I was asking myself, so who makes Matt Damon look real tough in “Green Zone“?
I was elated to find out that the guy responsible for coordinating the stunts and fight choreography is an established stunt player himself. He is fellow martial artist Markos (or Mark) Rounthwaite, 5th degree Tae Kwon Do black belt from New Zealand, aka Mr. Stunts.
Mark was a member of the highly accomplished stunt teams in such successful productions as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Bourne Ultimatum, Casino Royale and King Kong.
You have already noticed that I like to credit people who bring out the best in other people and that of course means stunt players, stunt coordinators and fight choreographers, because these are the ones who help make the stars look better than they actually might be.
From what I can tell from the trailer, the movie “Green Zone” sure looks like a lot of suspense and exciting action scenes. I am hopeful that the movie actually lives up to the expectations that we as viewers have when we see these jaw-dropping action scenes in trailers.
Anyway, here’s a sneak peek of “Green Zone“:
Greetings! Enjoy The Week In Review At TheMartialArtsReporter.com
This sure was another exciting week at The MartialArtsReporter.com!
And here it is “The Week In Review”.
I hope you enjoy your Sunday and find the time to take in all the video clips in their entirety.
Celebrating The Life Of Brandon Lee, Who Would Have Turned 45 Today
Get A Great Lower Body Stretching Workout In Only 3 Minutes!
Here’s An Upper Body Stretching Workout In Just 3 Minutes!
Boxing Insights From My Filipino-American Barber
Jeff Imada, The Genius Behind Great Action Movies
We Will Never Forget 9/11 American Hero And Judo Champion, Jeremy Glick
I hope you come back tomorrow for a new post.
Take care. Stay safe.
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